There are signs that elections won’t be free and fair in Bauchi — NNPP gov candidate

Bauchi State governorship candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, Ambassador Shuaibu Ahmed, bares his on the development of the state and other issues in an interview with ARMSTRONG BAKAM

You were the Secretary to the State Government under the former Governor Adamu Muazu. Now he has moved to the APC Why didn’t you follow him?

Does it mean that because he is my former boss, whatever he does, I must also do? Don’t I have my own independent mind? This is a project that we started three years ago. We are focused. We wanted to bring change to Bauchi State and eventually, to the whole country. The name of our party is the New Nigeria Peoples Party.

What exactly will you do for the state?

The key issue in our state and our country is the issue of corruption. There can never be development as long as you don’t address the issue of corruption in this country. So, the first cardinal point we will want to address will be the issue of corruption. Over the last four years, there has been no any meaningful development in Bauchi State. The next issue is that of poverty alleviation. As I have always mentioned that Bauchi State today is ranked at the bottom three at the poverty table. We need to deal with that poverty. We need to create employment for the youth. We need to provide means of livelihood so that people don’t go hungry in the state. That is key and in dealing with poverty, the issue of youth and women empowerment comes into play because you can’t address poverty if you don’t create an avenue for the youth and women to be economically empowered.

The governor has always said that salaries of workers take the chunk of the money the state gets and that accounts for the little he has done. Where will you get the money to do what you want to do?

What he is saying is not true. Why are we seeing development in Jigawa, Gombe or even in crises-ridden states like Yobe? The allocation of Bauchi State is even higher than those of many states but we are seeing developments there. He has earned almost N309bn since he became governor. What has he done with the money? So, it’s not true when he says he is not performing because there’s no money. It’s clearly false. Is it only Bauchi State that has the large wage bill? How much is it wage bill?

Do you have the confidence in the ability of INEC to conduct free, fair, credible and acceptable elections especially in Bauchi State?

I don’t have full confidence. I’ve always said that the only way the present governor can win an election in Bauchi State is by rigging. I don’t see how he can win if the election is free and fair. I have already started seeing signs that clearly indicate to me that it will not be free and fair. Some few days ago, the INEC office in Ningi, which is my local government, was cordoned off. The roof was removed in the name they were going to renovate the building. That is not true. Four years after the last election, they did not think of renovating it until three weeks to an election.

Even in Bauchi town, that they want to move the INEC office or the coalition centre to the Army Barracks or Police Barracks, as the case might be. They’ve started. I have pictures of what they did in Ningi. They have policemen guarding the place and they don’t allow people to even take pictures. I managed to get the pictures. They’ve removed the roof. They removed everything and there is no way, you’ll tell me that they are going to put that roof back in three weeks. The next thing you’re going to say is that you’re going to move the INEC office or the coalition centre into the police barracks. We will not accept it. We want to write a petition to the INEC Chairman in Abuja telling him what is happening in Bauchi and to really tell the people of Bauchi that this is what is happening.

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